December Self-Healing Tips

"The Master travels all day without leaving home"
- Tao Te Ching

The recent holiday allowed many of us Angelinos to travel out of the LA area. If you're like me and found yourself in a colder, more northern climate, you may have been shocked by the different energy of the season. Winter is coming. Though in the West we make peace with our own Winter climate, facing fires, winds, and heat, it serves us well to modify our behavior in alignment with the grosser energy shifts of more northern, colder climates. Let the recent fires remind us to tend to and take care of the Water element within this Winter. Too much expenditure of Yang in the Water season, when we should be cultivating Yin, leads to dry conditions and Empty Fire. This is what we see in the environment around us.

In other places the days leading up to and directly following the Winter solstice are short, dark, and cold. Consequently there's not a lot of impetus to expand, expend, and explore. Our actions and choices should reflect the change in season in a way that we contract, come inside, and consolidate. The body's Yang energy is precious, and in the darkest part of the year, with the least amount of sunlight, we gain from more sleep, more rest, more introspection, and the balance of still keeping our energy moving. We want to conserve our Yang energy - our active, forceful, light, bright, spiritual energy - to consolidate it, cultivate it, contain it. This is not the month to go expending your spiritual billions.

Kidney 1 Prime is a point not everyone knows about, but that everyone should know. This point is located on the sole of the foot midway from side to side and 2/3 of the way from the toes to the end of the heel. It is right at the front of the main circular pad we think of as the heel. This point is where the body plugs into the earth's energy to connect to the earth through the Chong Mai. The Chong Mai is the Self - the point is the gateway to the Self - and in the layers of our being, it represents the return to oneness, our true essence - before all polarity, and before there is a division into Yin and Yang.

To activate the KI 1 prime point, massage both sides at least 1 x daily for 3-5 minutes (longer is fine). It is rooting, grounding, centering - and will lead to actions and choices that cultivate rooting. Extra boost - meditate on this point while practicing yoga, chi gong, and tai chi.

Seaweed is cold, salty, and nourishes the Kidneys. It contains beta-carotene and Vitamins B1, B2, and B12. Seaweed is also rich in trace minerals which help the body in numerous ways. Eating seaweed often in the Winter helps to nourish the Kidneys, drain the body of Damp and Phlegm, and support the adrenals. Any kind of seaweed can be taken. The most common types are Wakame, Arame, Nori, and Hijiki.